ABOUT US

Our Vision

Our Vision is to break the cycle of poverty and prostitution one child at a time. By providing the necessary support and resources to ensure that every child is part of a family unit, we are able to promote self worth and identity, to instill value and hope, and to advocate freedom and justice for each child.

Our Mission

Our Mission is to establish a high-quality baby home for rescued and abandoned babies as well as a child advocacy centre for victims and at-risk children. The heart of The Oasis is keeping families together by providing support to parents as well as programs on how to prevent sexual abuse and human trafficking.

Our Values

Some of our values include:

Accountability

We take personal responsibility for using our resources efficiently by being accountable to each other and providing transparency to our partners, the community, and the children.

Collaboration

We value our partnerships with local and international NGOs, GOs, as well as individuals to employ a multi-faceted andchild centric case management approach.

Creativity

We create a space in which the children are confident to engage in free play activities, believe in life long learning, share friendships, and express themselves through the various arts. We are open to new ideas, embrace change, and take calculated risks to develop sustainable programs for the children.

Integrity

We aspire to live to the highest standards of personal honesty and behaviour and always act in the best interests of children.

History of The Oasis

Sharmee

Founder / Executive Director

Born and raised within the comforts and security of Singapore (a first world country), Sharmee grew up having the luxury of living close to family and friends.

In 2014, however, she resolved to move to Pattaya, Thailand to start doing full-time volunteer child protection work.

Sharmee’s strong resolve and decision to leave the comforts of her safe environment to care for abused, abandoned or trafficked children was somethingforthcoming.

Sharmee taught young children for 7 years during which she ran a program for abused, neglected, and abandoned children. Subsequently, she worked with Every Nation Church (Singapore) whilst reaching out to women in Singapore’s red light districts. She did this to

Build relationships with women and girls actively in the sex trade through a consistent presence offering hope and help

Challenge girls and women who were ready to dream of a life, beyond the four walls they were in, free from sexual exploitation.

Look out for signs/victims of human trafficking and provide a way out.

As she learned more about the trafficking of eastern European orphans, she got increasingly passionate about anti-human trafficking work – eventually leading to her decision to move to Thailand.

For the first 2 years since moving to Thailand, Sharmee volunteered with various organisations and agencies including Hand to Hand Foundation and Freeland Foundation, both reasearching to address the gaps in the system and working to protect the welfare of children. She saw exploited babies in begging rings that were drugged, incarcerated babies behind bars that were unclothed and hungry, abandoned babies in hospitals and orphanages that were left behind or thrown in rubbish dumps. Most organizations helped children above 3 years old but not babies.

In June 2016, The Oasis was started in a beautiful rented house that quickly became a refuge for the first 4 children that the house welcomed. Sharmee started with a team of 3 to fulfill the various roles in a nurturing home for the children.

Since then, volunteers from Thailand and overseas have been putting in their time, talents and treasures to support the home.

Jo-e Blanding, one of the volunteers, and founder of Giving is Social, says about Sharmee, “She has a natural maternal instinct and passion for kids and is always quick to know what is needed for them. She is a natural listener and has a patient disposition which is necessary for many victims of abuse and abandonment. Her desire is to see children and their mothers have access to freedom and justice while living purposeful lives.”

As a means of integrating herself into the Thai culture, Sharmee has taught herself to converse in Thai in a mere 2 years.

Sharmee continues to equip herself with the proper education needed to fulfill her role, and to comply with laws and regulations around child protection work. Some of her recent training were the “Trust Women Conference” in London, “1st Asean Conference on Crime, Prevention and Criminal Justice,” and“Trafficking and Exploitation Interviews, and the Multidisciplinary Response” hosted by Homeland Security Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Office of Victims Assistance’s (OVA) in Bangkok, Thailand.

For more information about The Oasis, please email ask@theoasis-foundation.com.